Saint of the DayCatholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts. God calls each one of us to be a saint. Click here to receive Saint of the Day in your email.

Daniel, Franciscan provincial of Calabria, Italy, led a contingent of Franciscan friars who were inspired by the example of St. Berard to preach the gospel in North Africa in 1227. The six other friars were Angelo, Domnus, Hugolino, Leo, Nicholas and Samuel. They came to Ceuta, Morocco, where the Christian merchants warned them against preaching.

The friars, however, were so enthusiastic they preached openly, but were immediately imprisoned. Unpersuaded by bribes and threats, they refused to renounce their faith. Like the early Christians in the Colosseum, Daniel and his companions went to their deaths singing. Their bodies were taken to Spain following their beheadings.

They were canonized in 1516.

Comment:

Martyrs remind us of the high price Jesus paid for spreading the Good News. We are not free to choose the exact conditions of our witness to Jesus and the Good News. Remembering the martyrs of another era helps us persevere in living out the gospel that we, like Francis, are called to observe.

Quote:

"By martyrdom a disciple is transformed into an image of his Master, who freely accepted death on behalf of the world's salvation; he perfects that image even to the shedding of blood. Though few are presented with such an opportunity, nevertheless all must be prepared to confess Christ before men, and to follow him along the way of the cross through the persecutions which the Church will never fail to suffer" (Constitution on the Church, #71).